CWRU's newest recruit

Noted cancer researcher joins med school
faculty

The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has recruited a noted national cancer researcher to its ranks.
Yu-Chung Yang specializes in research that examines the biological functions of cytokines -- types of proteins in the body -- so they can be better understood and used in the treatment of diseases. Building upon this research could lead to treatments for cancer and leukemia patients.
Dr. Yang was recruited from Indiana University to become the newest member of the CWRU medical school's Department of Pharmacology.
'This is very important to pharmacology (at the medical school) because it adds someone focused on biological therapy,' said Nathan Berger, dean of the medical school. 'She's an outstanding investigator and molecular pharmacologist.'
Dr. Berger said the recruitment of Dr. Yang represented a shift from how the university normally recruits researchers. Typically, the medical school taps young, new researchers. However, Dr. Yang is a seasoned researcher with more than 20 years of biological research under her belt.
Her experience and that of other researchers with whom she will work will enable the department to grow with more built-in knowledge, instead of needing to develop research from a less mature stage, Dr. Berger said.
Prior to her recruitment to the CWRU medical school, Dr. Yang had been at Indiana University for nearly 10 years, most recently as a professor in its School of Medicine. She also worked as an adjunct professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and held an affiliation with the Wal-ther Oncology Center at Indiana University Medical Center.
In an interview with Crain's Cleveland Business, Dr. Yang said she agreed to come to Cleveland because the medical school created an endowed chair for her.
At CWRU, she has been named professor of pharmacology and the Isadore Jacob Goodman-Ruth Goodman Blum Professor in cancer research. She has also been given a secondary appointment in the comprehensive cancer center at University Hospi
tals of Cleveland and the medical school.
More than $500,000 in support that Dr. Yang garnered from the National Institutes of Health while at Indiana University will be transferred for her use at CWRU, she said. The money will help cover her salary and those of others she recruits. To continue and build upon her research, Dr. Yang said she will recruit as many as 10 more researchers. Those recruited will include post-doctoral fellows, graduate students and lab assistants. Two researchers transferred with her from Indiana University.
Dr. Yang's previous experience includes leading a group of researchers at Genetics Institute, a small Cambridge, Mass., biotechnology firm, who discovered cytokine interleukin-11. Those molecules can be used to restore platelets after chemotherapy.
The finding of the Cambridge team was important because cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy typically find the ability of their bone marrow to produce the platelets necessary for blood to clot is impaired. Prior to identifying interleukin-11, cancer patients' only alternative was to receive an expensive and often-risky platelet transfusion.